She never had children, and never married. She came from a wealthy family and never lived alongside poor families. Yet she devoted much of her life to improving their material conditions by campaigning for children’s allowances to be paid directly to mothers. The woman was Eleanor Rathbone and, just before she died, she contributed in the House of Commons to the enactment of the 1945 Family Allowances Act which, Hilary Land stated, “was probably the most notable personal triumph in legislation since the Act which celebrates the Plimsoll line” (Land, 1990, p 104). This chapter will attempt to trace how a privileged Victorian woman became a children's champion. Much of its content is drawn from an interview with Margaret Simey. Margaret was a friend of Eleanor Rathbone’s and is now a distinguished elder stateswoman of social reform. In 1924, Margaret was one of the first degree students at Liverpool University in the School of Social Sciences, of which Eleanor was one of the founders. While there, Margaret went on placement to the Victoria Women’s Settlement which was the base for much of Eleanor Rathbone's work. Thereafter, Margaret was associated with the same causes until Eleanor’s death in 1946.

The Rathbone tradition

Eleanor Rathbone was born in 1872 to a family which was famous in Liverpool and beyond for its money and mercy. Her father, William Rathbone, multiplied the family fortunes in the China tea trade. A devoted Christian of the Unitarian church, he took seriously his duty to help others. Indeed, he regarded his money as something entrusted to him by God for the service of humankind. Later, when Eleanor wrote his biography, she called his life “a career of public usefulness” (Rathbone, 1905, p 493). It was a career helped by a tremendous drive, a kind of faith that almost anything could be achieved. He supported and founded charities in Liverpool, was a city councillor and then a Liberal MP. Married twice, William had eight sons and three daughters. The expectation was that his sons would take over their father's many roles. However, the sons never lived up to the standards he set in business and social life and, as Eleanor grew up, so her father increasingly prepared her to take on his charitable and political mantles.